Got a Whatzit last night

[Walker]

A friend of a friend had this in his barn, no badge, no serial # (unless its buried under the layers of paint at the bottom bracket. portions of the frame have seen better days but the price was right. Must be a rare postal bike. :wink:

 

[CCR]

i should know this frame by now , its either a columbia firebolt or thunderbolt. i keep getting them mixed up. way cool frames

 

[JLarkin]

Bolt a caster to the end of the rack and you'll have an extreme wheelie bike. Looks like the rare left hand drive option. Obviously must be an English bike. :lol:

 

[thatismytruck]

great frame!!! I love the left hand drive option also. I imagine the previous owner thought something along these lines:

"huh, I can only go backwards on this bike. That's weird. I'll try another rim. nope. that didn't work either. ........ what the heck? ......... Oh!! this frame is backwards!!!! I'll just sell it to some other clod."

 

[roadmaster]

cool frame, and i agree with CCR that it must be a thunderbolt or firebolt, with the built on rack. you know you gonna wanna put that back to righthand drive OR just make a lefthand drivetrain fixie out of it. thats what im gonna build this winter.

 

[LIVE TO RIDE]

really likin those straight bars to rack!Very cool.

 

[deorman]

:? Must be Firebolt, Thunderbolt was the old 650 BSA I once butchered. :lol:

 

[Unchained]

Columbia firebolt or "fire arrow" for sure. I believe that while firebolt's more often used that frame, it was also offered with slight styling differences as a "fire arrow". :wink:

 

[sensor]

check yeshoneys rrbbo#2 bike elvis.....the king has left the building!



but he left the answers :wink:

 

[Walker]

Thanks guys, it appears to be a Firebolt. i think someone tried to turn this middleweight into a balooner by the looks of the chain and seat stays. They also put a lot of effort into removing a stuck seat post, probably with a sledgehamer and chisel. I'll probably just weld a post into it if i move ahead with a build.

 

[LIVE TO RIDE]

How bad did they mess up the seat tube?Is there a piece of post still down in there?

 

[beatcad]

i think the rack as part of the bike looks cool. who's bike is this? someone here maybe?
i picked up some cheap motorcycle bags from a swap meet.
hmmmm......

 

[user 135]

i think the rack as part of the bike looks cool. who's bike is this? someone here maybe?

Yeshoney's- Elvis

 

[Walker]

It appears that someone used a chisel to flare out the seat tube to remove a stuck seat post. There is only about 1" of seat tube above the top tube so it would be a lot of work to re-weld a new collar onto it (see how i'm talking myself into the project). The damage on the chain and seat stays is not repairable in my mind, unless i sourced a new rear end to weld on. Not sure if it is worth the effort when the bike could be ridden as is....I'm thinking this is Klunker material with 24" wheels, Haven't built one of those yet. I've got everything i need except some big fat 24" knobbies..

 

[LIVE TO RIDE]

Can you post pics of the damage?The seat tube sound like you could put a seat post into the frame and with a smooth face hammer knock it back into shape.Isnt the seat clamp gonna cover that spot anyways?And a seat clamp is only about 3/4'' tall so it should fit alright.And on your seat stays and chainstays is it knocked out big enough to run fatties?If so that would look bitchen!!